Building a Foundation for Future Success
A wet winter bodes well for a vibrant spring, but often hampers construction projects. On a rainy Monday evening in March, however, 27 high school seniors aren’t letting the water on the windows dampen their spirit. Volunteer class instructor and local plumber John Morris from Watersphere Plumbing is reviewing pipe fittings with them and bringing home the value of high school math to on-the-job work. These high school students are part of the Mendocino County Construction Corp (MCCC) program, a collaborative effort between the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, Ukiah Unified School District, Ukiah Chamber of Commerce, North Coast Builders Exchange, construction businesses, and tradespeople focused on training high school seniors in the trades and putting them to work after graduation.
Community Preparedness and Resiliency Fund
I once read that the “silent killer” after a disaster is a lack of community cohesiveness. The disaster is the shock; the number and diversity of its voluntary organizations and their willingness to cooperate serve as the shock absorbers. For me this encapsulates the concept of community resiliency. In those dark months after the Redwood Complex Fire, the challenges at times felt insurmountable and I needed to regain a sense of hope – a way to illuminate our future and protect our community from another disaster on this scale. I reflected on this need for preparedness and cohesiveness, and this quest for illumination led to the creation of our new Community Resiliency and Preparedness Fund.
Engaging donors to invest in a thriving Mendocino County uniquely positions us, as a community foundation, to steward this fund. We lean on our expertise to channel these funds to local non-profits that can provide the boots-on-the-ground work necessary to protect our county and help it thrive in the wake of a disaster.
Paul and Linda Shimmins Scholarship Fund
As I sit talking with Paul Shimmin two things are evident: his enjoyment of golf, outweighed only by his love for his late wife Linda. These two things are what brought him to the Community Foundation to realize a dream he and Linda shared to create a scholarship for scholar-athletes from the school where they met 54 years ago. “Linda and I have always felt a need to give back to the community,” Paul tells me. “This is why I started a scholarship in our names to benefit Ukiah High School students through the Community Foundation. Both Linda and I graduated from Ukiah High and have great memories of those years.”
At Ukiah High, sports played a part in both their lives. Linda was a cheerleader and song leader. Paul threw himself into basketball, and his ultimate passion – golf. When I ask where he first played, family becomes intertwined in his memories. “In seventh-grade my big brother Gary introduced me to the game on what was then Ukiah’s nine-hole course. The one-on-one competition hooked me for life.” Paul went on to play varsity golf at Ukiah High in freshman year alongside his brother, then a senior; he later continued the tradition on the Santa Clara University varsity golf team his freshman year, when again his brother was on the same team as a senior.
A Season of Gratitude and Hope
The winter rains have brought to a close another devastating wildfire season, and new homes are springing up where just a year ago there was nothing but ash and debris. This holiday season inspires gratitude for all that has blossomed in the preceding months and hope for what is yet to be done. As we continue our efforts to bring every survivor of the Redwood and Mendocino Complex fires back home, we at the Foundation are especially grateful to all of those who supported our work to make a difference in our county this year, and those who have supported our work for a quarter century as we celebrate our 25th anniversary
Marge Pardini: A Lifetime of Service
Lion’s Club International celebrated their centennial anniversary in 2017, and for a quarter of a century Marge Pardini has been at the heart of the Redwood Empire chapter, a heart that beats the very mission of the organization, “We serve.” It is this boundless spirit of giving back that led the Redwood Empire Lions Club to honor Marge with a scholarship in her name and inspired Club leadership to partner with the Community Foundation to ensure her spirit of service is honored in perpetuity.
Celebrating our own 25th anniversary I couldn’t be more thrilled with the synchronicity of this scholarship as Marge’s service to the community mirrors our own dedication to giving back. It is this synchronicity that so excited me when I received the call from Lions Club past-president Earl Chavez. “We want to provide a scholarship to a local student that rewards community service and giving back, and we want to do it in Marge Pardini’s name,” he told me. To achieve this, we have established the Marge Pardini Philanthropy Scholarship. “Philanthropy is at her core. We love her,” current president, Sheryl Mitcham tells me. “She is the most wonderful lady there is. She helps with whatever is needed and has taught me so much.”
Lean On Me
A room filled to capacity with friends and neighbors has gathered at the Redwood Valley Grange for an evening of First Person Plural monologues, written and performed by Redwood Valley residents who lost homes in the 2017 Redwood Complex Fire. The crowd sits on the edge of their seats captivated by the breathtaking moments each of the seven survivors describes: the days before the fire, the initial red glow to the east, the frightening escapes, and the collective arms of the community that catch them. Interspersed with music, mostly original pieces written for the event, the evening builds to an emotional release as the cast sings: "Sometimes in our lives we all have pain, we all have sorrow, but if we are wise we know that there's always tomorrow." The project's initiator and director Ellen Weed appears overwhelmed as the entire room joins in with what feels like a release: "Lean on me when you're not strong and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on."
A Year of Celebration Begins
The cool coastal air carries a chorus of "Happy Birthday" sung by Boonville-based band The Real Sarahs, and I watch in gratitude as smiles spread across the faces of the 200 well-wishers gathered to honor the Community Foundation's 25th anniversary. Friends, board members, and staff have come together at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens to kick off our year of celebration.
I join the chorus and focus on this opportunity to thank the hundreds of volunteers who contribute so much to the Community Foundation, to celebrate 25 years of advancing the well-being of Mendocino County, and to launch the Community Resiliency and Preparedness Fund.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Authors
“I opened this fund because I love the Mendocino Coast and I love writing,” says Ginny Rorby, about the designated fund she has established at the Community Foundation, the Mendocino Writer's Conference Endowment Fund. “When I inherited some money it made sense to give to the things that are important to me.”
Ginny’s connection to the Mendocino area started in the early 1980s when she was living in Florida and working as a flight attendant for Pan Am Airlines. “A co-worker of mine knew I often spent my layovers by renting a car and exploring the countryside. One day he told me, ‘I found a town you would love.’ I was intrigued, so I flew to San Francisco, rented a car, drove to the coast, and immediately fell in love. Ten years later, in 1991, I moved here.”
Building a Fund for the Homeless
Donna Vaiano, who recently opened the Fund for Homeless Services at the Community Foundation, has a strong attachment to the community that has been a part of her life for many decades. “This is my home,” she says when speaking of Willits. “I first moved here in 1971. Although my husband and I had been attending school back east, we first met in San Francisco and both of us wanted to return to California. When he found a job as a veterinarian in Willits, it seemed like a good fit. At the time we both loved to scuba dive, and it was just a short trip to the coast.”
Living in Willits in 1971 was special, according to Donna. “We were part of the back to the land movement. There weren’t many of us, and so we all knew each other. We had wonderful parties where everyone would bring something to share. In many ways, I ‘grew up’ in Willits and became the person I wanted to be."
A Legacy of Art and Generosity
For the many local people who remember her, Jane Gardiner was a fun and creative person who, although limited by physical disability, found much joy and satisfaction in her life. Her neighbor, Marvin Trotter, recalls, “Jane was a lively, vivacious, kind and lovely woman who was an artist through and through. She had an amazing amount of energy for someone her age.”
Jane and her husband Gene built their home in an idyllic spot in Redwood Valley in the early 1980s, on 49 acres on Tomki Road. Gene had been a land developer in the Bay Area, known for his success with the Mission Ranch development in Fremont. He married Jane in the early 1970’s after the death of his first wife. He was 21 years older than Jane. According to Jane’s obituary in the Press Democrat, Gene was an avid fisherman and hunter who flew his own plane and Jane accompanied him almost everywhere he went.
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